National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, 1993, volume 2

The JSC NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted by Texas A&M University and JSC. The objectives of the program, which began nationally in 1964 and at JSC in 1965, are (1) to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty members; (2) to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA; (3) to enrich and refresh the research and teaching activities of participant's institutions; and (4) to contribute to the research objectives of the NASA centers. Each faculty fellow spent at least 10 weeks at JSC engaged in a research project in collaboration with a NASA/JSC colleague. A compilation of the final reports on the research projects completed by the faculty fellows during the summer of 1993 is presented

Fifth International Microgravity Combustion Workshop

This conference proceedings document is a compilation of 120 papers presented orally or as poster displays to the Fifth International Microgravity Combustion Workshop held in Cleveland, Ohio on May 18-20, 1999. The purpose of the workshop is to present and exchange research results from theoretical and experimental work in combustion science using the reduced-gravity environment as a research tool. The results are contributed by researchers funded by NASA throughout the United States at universities, industry and government research agencies, and by researchers from at least eight international partner countries that are also participating in the microgravity combustion science research discipline. These research results are intended for use by public and private sector organizations for academic purposes, for the development of technologies needed for the Human Exploration and Development of Space, and to improve Earth-bound combustion and fire-safety related technologies

Microgravity Science and Applications: Program Tasks and Bibliography for Fiscal Year 1996

NASA's Microgravity Science and Applications Division (MSAD) sponsors a program that expands the use of space as a laboratory for the study of important physical, chemical, and biochemical processes. The primary objective of the program is to broaden the value and capabilities of human presence in space by exploiting the unique characteristics of the space environment for research. However, since flight opportunities are rare and flight research development is expensive, a vigorous ground-based research program, from which only the best experiments evolve, is critical to the continuing strength of the program. The microgravity environment affords unique characteristics that allow the investigation of phenomena and processes that are difficult or impossible to study an Earth. The ability to control gravitational effects such as buoyancy driven convection, sedimentation, and hydrostatic pressures make it possible to isolate phenomena and make measurements that have significantly greater accuracy than can be achieved in normal gravity. Space flight gives scientists the opportunity to study the fundamental states of physical matter-solids, liquids and gasses-and the forces that affect those states. Because the orbital environment allows the treatment of gravity as a variable, research in microgravity leads to a greater fundamental understanding of the influence of gravity on the world around us. With appropriate emphasis, the results of space experiments lead to both knowledge and technological advances that have direct applications on Earth. Microgravity research also provides the practical knowledge essential to the development of future space systems. The Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications (OLMSA) is responsible for planning and executing research stimulated by the Agency's broad scientific goals. OLMSA's Microgravity Science and Applications Division (MSAD) is responsible for guiding and focusing a comprehensive program, and currently manages its research and development tasks through five major scientific areas: biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science. FY 1996 was an important year for MSAD. NASA continued to build a solid research community for the coming space station era. During FY 1996, the NASA Microgravity Research Program continued investigations selected from the 1994 combustion science, fluid physics, and materials science NRAS. MSAD also released a NASA Research Announcement in microgravity biotechnology, with more than 130 proposals received in response. Selection of research for funding is expected in early 1997. The principal investigators chosen from these NRAs will form the core of the MSAD research program at the beginning of the space station era. The third United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-3) and the Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) missions yielded a wealth of microgravity data in FY 1996. The USMP-3 mission included a fluids facility and three solidification furnaces, each designed to examine a different type of crystal growth

Effects of Irrigation Rate and Planting Density on Maize Yield and Water Use Efficiency in the Temperate Climate of Serbia

Scarce water resources severely limit maize (Zea mays L.) cultivation in the temperate regions of northern Serbia. A two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of irrigation and planting density on yield and water use efficiency in temperate climate under sprinkler irrigation. The experiment included five irrigation treatments (full irrigated treatment – FIT; 80% FIT, 60% FIT, 40% FIT, and rainfed) and three planting densities (PD1: 54,900 plants ha–1 ; PD2: 64,900 plants ha–1; PD3: 75,200 plants ha–1). There was increase in yield with the irrigation (1.05–80.00%) as compared to the rainfed crop. Results showed that decreasing irrigation rates resulted in a decrease in yield, crop water use efficiency (WUE), and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE). Planting density had significant effects on yield, WUE, and IWUE which differed in both years. Increasing planting density gradually increased yield, WUE, and IWUE. For the pooled data, irrigation rate, planting density and their interaction was significant (P < 0.05). The highest two-year average yield, WUE, and IWUE were found for FIT-PD3 (14,612 kg ha–1), rainfed-PD2 (2.764 kg m–3), and 60% FITPD3 (2.356 kg m–3), respectively. The results revealed that irrigation is necessary for maize cultivation because rainfall is insufficient to meet the crop water needs. In addition, if water becomes a limiting factor, 80% FIT-PD3 with average yield loss of 15% would be the best agronomic practices for growing maize with a sprinkler irrigation system in a temperate climate of Serbia